NIST Center for AI Standards and Innovation

The NIST Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI) is a U.S. government research and standards organization within the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) (Department of Commerce). CAISI is tasked with serving as “industry’s primary point of contact within the U.S. government” to facilitate testing and collaborative research focused on harnessing and securing commercial AI systems. Its mandate includes developing guidelines and best practices to measure and improve AI security, establishing voluntary agreements with private AI developers and evaluators, and conducting unclassified evaluations of AI capabilities that may pose national-security risks—spanning areas such as cybersecurity, biosecurity, and chemical weapons. CAISI also leads assessments related to U.S. and adversary AI systems, including vulnerabilities and malign foreign influence, and coordinates with other federal agencies and entities to develop evaluation methods and perform targeted testing and assessment activities. CAISI’s work is closely aligned with NIST’s broader AI evaluation and measurement science mission, but CAISI’s distinctive focus is on pre-deployment (voluntary access) and evaluation-driven guidance for security and national-security-relevant AI risks. In 2024–2026, CAISI’s public-facing outputs include evaluation studies, guidelines in draft and final form under the NIST AI 800 series, and program announcements such as the AI Agent Standards Initiative and collaborations to improve the practical evaluation infrastructure used in secure testing contexts.